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The diversity of modern Jewish music is a result of centuries of hard traveling and cultural interaction. The secular and religious sounds of the Diaspora now embrace everything from European memories to the Latin experience to folk and modern pop styles from the Middle East. For example, the jazzy pathos of klezmer music reflects shtetl (village) life in Russia and Poland during the early 20th century, while the Arabic-tinged Sephardic repertoire dates from medieval times and then back to Sinai. This thoughtfully assembled sampler covers the major roots and branches plus some bonus oddities. Among the stand-outs are Israeli folk singer Chava Alberstein singing with The Klezmatics, a love song from the late Yemenite chanteuse Ofra Haza, and pianist Uri Caine's avant-garde treatment of a 13th-century Moroccan text. The American ex-hippie Uzca, who sings in an imaginary language, is in a class of his own. --Christina Roden ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Spiritually uplifting!
I make sure to listen to this CD at least once a week -- it helps to keep my spirits up in this crazy world. Every single friend for whom I have played "A Jewish Odyssey" has immediately purchased it! You don't have to be Jewish to love this eclectic and stirring collection of music from around the globe.

Get Your Feet Moving!!!
You don't have to understand Yiddish to appreciate this collection of Jewish music from around the world. As some of the literature suggests, while Jewish music is extremely varied and clear boundaries can be difficult to define, there are three main categories. "Ashkenazi" includes European styles such as klezmer; "Sephardic" is primarily the music of Jews from the Mediterranean including Spain, Portugal, North Africa, Greece, and Turkey; "Mizrahi" is the music of Jewish communities which were based for thousands of years in Arabic countries, and of course, there is also Israeli popular music, which incorporates all of these styles as well as Western pop and folk music.

This CD has many of these styles, and you will hear selections from Israel/USA, United Kingdom, Italy, Turkey, Chile/Cuba, Canada, and Brazil, to just mention a few.

I love this album, and it gets my feet thumping, and I want to dance, dance, and dance. There are also the quieter melodies, albeit somewhat melancholic, but ranging from intensity to intensity.

A wonderful collection. Now if I can only learn the language.

A wonderful collection
I am not Jewish, but you don't have to be to enjoy these songs. This album happens to be one of my favourites of the Putumayo releases. A couple of the songs were instantly familiar to me even though I thought I knew none of the songs when I bought this album. Each and every song on here is wonderful...some are traditional folk songs while others are newer compositions. The 23 page booklet includes a 3 page history of Jewish music, and each artist has a page about them, including a photograph. I highly recommend this album to just about everyone. My husband is Arabic and he too loves these songs. Music truly is borderless.

Marvelous & Must for Collections: Fine Gift
This is an excellent CD. Those seeking an appropriate gift would be well advised to consider buying this CD and sending it with proper wrapping. The music is lively, authentic, meaningful, moving and delightful. Fittingly the CD closes with "Shalom Aleichem and I found myself singing along. The 11 tracks contain some songs that are unfamiliar in name but are able to be sung as soon as the first notes are sounded. The sound is Klezmer-like. But, Klemezer is a part of the Jewish roots.

This musical history review includes songs from each of the three main Jewish culture categories: Ashkenazi, Mizrahi and Sephardic. The performers come from all parts of the world. Some songs are new and others have ancient roots.

My only question is When will "A Jewish Odyssey II" be issued. The CD is enjoyable and a hit. Movie makers would have issued III by now. Buy with Nachas. L'Chaim,

Alan D. Kardoff, Melbourne FL

an excellent sampler of some jewish music style
Putamayo Music excels at compiling, branding, and marketing a variety of world music styles. With this CD, they offer samples of modern renditions on classic Jewish styles from Ashkenazi/ European Jewry, Klezmer (kley-zemer), Sephardic/Iberian/North African/Levantine/Turkish Jewry, and Mizrahi/Arab country Jewry. The songs on this CD include those in Yiddish, Ladino (Judeo-Espanol/ Castilian/ Catalan/ Galician), Hebrew, and gibberish.

The first cut is Di Goldene Pave (The Golden Peacock) from the 15 year old band, The Klezmatics, and the Polish born Israeli songstress, Chava Alberstein. The lyrics are based on a Yiddish poem by Russian-Jewish-American poet, Anna Margolin. It is rendered as a beautiful Yiddish classic lullaby.

The second cut is from the British group, Burning Bush. Rad Halaila (The Night is Strong) is a well known Hassidic Hebrew melody calling upon an eternal god to return, return (shuvi, shuvi) to your children so that we can dance a hora. The clarinet riffs and accordion and violin backups are worth the purchase of the CD. The third cut comes to the CD from Italy's top Jewish ensemble, KlezRoym. They sing Fel Shara, a traditional Sephardic love song in Ladino, Italian, English, Arabic and French, English and Arabic. The lead singer, Eva Coen. The fourth cut is a melody for the Sabbath from Philadelphia-born pianist Uri Caine and singer Aaron Bensoussan. It is a mix of traditional Sephardic music with jazz. Their rendition of Lecha Dodi makes you want to welcome the Sabbath castanets.

The fifth cut is by the late Israeli singer, Ofra Haza, the Queen of Israeli Yemenite music. She passed away last year at age 41. In her song, Rachamim, you can just feel compassion descending upon her in the sounds of the woodwinds. (but then of course, Rachamim can be the name of her lover). The sixth cut didn't do anything for me. Uzka is short for Marcus Uzilevsky (Rusty Evans). In Kona Hora, he returns to his Jewish roots and couples violin lines inspired by Jewish melodies with Middle-Eastern percussion. He sings in a gibberish he calls his "spirit language" which I think sounds like Hebrew, but don't tell him that.

The seventh cut is by Hankus Netsky and his 21 year old Klezmer Conservatory Band. Their Meron Nign was well-arranged by the madolin-playing Jeff Warschauer. The mix of Hassidic niggun and middle eastern style is peppy. I expected a vocal to start at any moment, but it never comes. (kind of like the messiah) You kind of want to run out to Meron and shave your kids head (not). The eighth cut is from Turkish Jewry. Ija Mia Mi Kerida (My Dear Daughter) is sung in Ladino in a style of father and daughter in conversation, to beautiful guitar backup. The ninth cut is Las Estreyas (the Stars), sung by Chilean born Consuelo Luz of Santa Fe It is a love ballad from pre-Inquisition Spain. Although raised Catholic, she discovered converso-Jewish roots on her mother's side (the Avila family of the converso, St. Teresa of Avila), and now sings in Ladino. The tenth cut is from Ontario's 18 year old klezmer ensemble, Finjan. Dancing on Water is based on a classic, niggun-like melody. Make you want to skate or dance. The CD closes with a selection from Fortuna, a bossa nova singer from São Paulo, Brazil. She started to dream of Sephardic tunes and explored its heritage, recording 4 CD's. Her Shalom Aleichem piece is not as exciting as her life story, but it includes excellent guitar accompaniment and it somehow seemed as if a Flamenco dancer was involved in the backup. ... Read more

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If you had to choose just one Sacred Harp disc to own, this would be it. Volume 10 in the Southern Journey series may have more fuguing selections, but this is the best overall for its startling, briskly recorded stereo sound--no mean feat for a field recording from 1959! In addition to songs like "Cussetta," the always great "Weeping Mary," and "Montgomery," there are snippets of testimonials and confessions placed throughout. So you get to hear Harp singer Joyce Smith declare, "A lot of times a preacher will get up and preach and it don't seem like it has any effect on anybody. But you let a band of God's children get together and get to singing--people's gonna feel it." --Mike McGonigal ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Manages to articulate something ineffable and wonderous!
I happened upon this disc after becoming re-acquainted with shape note singing via the recently released "Cold Mountain" soundtrack. Wow. There is something thrilling, something visceral and yet greater than oneself, that is provoked upon listening to this wonderful and strange music. This is definitely not the Boston Camerata, so please don't buy it hoping to hear something glossy, high-church and perfectly executed. This is simply rousing, foot-stopping spiritual music sung by real god-fearing folk. Something in this music evoked a certain Proustian nostalgia in this Appalachian woman, reminding me of attending church with my elderly aunt at the tiny Baptist church in Cyrus, West Virginia as a small child--a church so small that the minister was a circuit preacher who rotated between several congregations. That congregation had something of the enthusiasm rendered on this disc-- I listened with tears streaming down my face. I highly reccommend this recording to anyone interested in musical ethnography, or in simply hearing the word of God sung with full-out enthusiasm and joy.

Excellent recording!
I found this CD listed when I was looking for something else, so this is most definitely serendipitious! Having had the good fortune to learn Sacred Harp singing from Paul Hillier when he directed our University Chorus, I have always loved the musical style. I have recordings by Boston Camerata, but good as they are, they are not the "unpolished" gems found on this CD. I learned a long time ago that in the tunes that had an alto line, the best altos were those that caused the paint to peel off the wall. Those are the voices on this recording! Talk about singing with sincerity and conviction - no fancy studio work here! If you are interested in the musical heritage of our nation, this is a "must-have"! If you have a hankering for hymns that are most definitely NOT "High Church", you will be well pleased - and who knows? You may find yourself seeking out groups that still practice this musical style - go to an all-day sing, with "dinner on the grounds!" ... Read more

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In honor of Bob Dylan's 60thbirthday--May 24, 2001--the singer-songwriters and roots musicians ofRed House Records offer yet another homage to the master. The trackshere range from the memorable and sometimes profound to forgettable andpleasant. With the exception of Eliza Gilkyson,whose gossamer version of "Love Minus Zero/No Limit" opens thecollection, the finest interpreters are the wise, time-worn voices wholet the mysteries of Dylan's songs speak for themselves. Martin Simpsonevokes the most heartbreaking tones of "Boots of Spanish Leather." Norman Blake and Peter Ostroushko(the only performers on the disc who have recorded with Dylan) see intothe old-timey, almost 19th-century spirit of "Restless Farewell." Rosalie Sorrels,with her stately, burnished voice, gives perhaps the definitive versionof "Tomorrow Is a Long Time." On the other hand, Lucy Kaplansky, Cliff Eberhardt,and John Gorka indulgein an earnestness Dylan mostly eschewed. --Roy Kasten ... Read more

Reviews (18)

Red House roster pays tribute to Bob Dylan
This is a great album, with a wide range of artists: Dylan predecessors Ramblin' Jack Elliott and Rosalie Sorrels, contemporaries Spider John Koerner and Dave Ray, newer names John Gorka, 2 of the Roche sisters, and others. Add bluesman Guy Davis, world-beat band The Paperboys, Quebec band Hart-Rouge, string legends Norman Blake & Peter Ostroushko, and UK folkie Martin Simpson and it's a varied and interesting album.

Most unsusual selection: Clothes Line Saga by Suzzy & Maggie Roche, originally on "The Basement Tapes."

Highlights are a very slow version of I Want You by Cliff Eberhardt, Tom Landa & The Paperboy’s Irish reel treatment of All Along The Watchtower, and Hart-Rouge’s French-language version of With God On Our Side. Spider John Koerner & Dave Ray offer Delia, the traditional song Dylan himself covered on his "World Gone Wrong" album. Ramblin’ Jack Elliott’s Don't Think Twice, It's All Right is the only live track (from 1990) on the CD, complete with a spoken introduction that's worth the cost of the CD.

Packaging: jewel-box in a slip-case; 20-page booklet with artist photos, bios & comments; credits

Format: CD; 15 tracks (14 songs-#14 is a 1:48 spoken intro); 63:09

revisiting Dylan's folk ways
As Dylan tributes go, this is a pretty good one. Nod to Bob mostly inclines its head to the 1960s-era bard. The sole exceptions are Guy Davis's "Sweetheart Like You," from the 1980s Infidels, and Spider John Koerner and Dave Ray's "Delia," a century-old Georgia murder ballad which Dylan recorded in the 1990s (in a quite different variant) on his all-traditional World Gone Wrong. The artists are seasoned pros, all influenced in one way or another by the folk revival that brought Dylan to the world stage. Only Lucy Kaplansky's lifeless "It Ain't Me, Babe" falls flat. It's almost to be preferred, however, to the sour anti-American rant French Canada's Hart-Rouge makes of "With God on Our Side" (sung in French); in the liner notes the band concedes that the song --surely the protest anthem at its most puerile, and Dylan at his most insufferably self-righteous -- is strictly a period piece, but apparently it can't resist the temptation. It should have. More happily, Suzzy and Maggie Roche offer a supremely good-humored "Clothes Line Saga," and Rosalie Sorrels establishes that "Tomorrow Is a Long Time" is a far better song than heretofore suspected. There is also Martin Simpson's affecting "Boots of Spanish Leather." Norman Blake and Peter Ostroushko do a suitably rustic-sounding "Restless Farewell," whose melody (from the old Irish "Parting Glass") is much older than Dylan's lyrics. And then there's Ramblin' Jack Elliott's "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right," than which there is no better. It has the added virtue of a hilarious opening anecdote at the young Dylan's expense.

Getting Real with Bob Dylan
Superb interpretations of America's supreme musical genius. Each version here is 'real', the shining quality of even Dylan's flawed or tossed-off compositions. Standouts are Guy Davis' "Sweetheart Like You", Spider John Koerner and Dave Ray's "Delia", and John Gorka's "Girl from the North Country." If you can listen to Martin Simpson's "Boots of Spanish leather" without weeping for the beauty of it, you haven't got tears. The range of styles (cf. Tom Landa and the Paperboys doing "All Along the Watchtower" and Hart-Rouge doing "Dieu a Nos Cotes") reflects how Dylan has absorbed and transformed all genres of American music.

Dylan still appreciates the real and he certainly recognized that this 'birthday gift' was the real deal. Read, by contrast, Mikal Gilmore's interview with Bob Dylan in the November 22 Rolling Stone for Dylan's keen nose for phoniness.

Mikal knows what's what. His brother is Gary Gilmore, of Mailer's *Executioner's Song* fame and Mikal's own superb *Shot in the Heart,* which I have used in my war and violence courses. His attachment to the 'real' in life seems to have gotten Bob Dylan to speak in non-oblique ways about what he is about.

Well, there was the 1991 Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammy's where Dylan was presented with a ridiculous proposal to have others (mainly pop phonies) sing a medley of his songs, and all he had to do was "show up." So he said okay.

BEGIN QUOTE

DYLAN: Then the Gulf War broke out. The Grammy people called and said, "Listen, we're in a tight fix. So-and-so, who was going to sing 'Times Are A-Changin',' is afraid to get on an airplane. So-and-so, who was going to do 'Like a Rolling Stone,' doesn't want to travel becuase he just had another baby and doesn't want to leave his family." That's understandable. But then so-and-so, who was going to sing, "It's All Over, Baby Blue," was in Africa and didn't want to take a chance flying to New York, and so-and-so, who was going to sing "All Along the Watchtower," wasn't sure he wanted to be at any high-visiblity place right then, because it might be a little dangerous. So they said, "Could you come and sing? Could *you* fill the time?" And I said, "What about the guy who's introducing me [Jack Nicholson]?" They said, "He's OK. He's coming."

Anyway I got disillusioned with all the characters at that time-with their inner character and their ability to be able to keep their word and their idealism and their insecurity. All the ones that have the gall to thrust their tortured inner psyches on an outer world but can't at least be true to their word....I just lost respect for them. There's a few that are decent and God-fearing and will stand up in a righteous way. But I wouldn't want to count on most of them.

END QUOTE

Count on "A Nod to Bob" instead.

"Nodding off" is more like it
Producing a tribute to Bob Dylan by having other singers cover his songs is almost as ludicrous as asking a bunch of painters to re-do Monet's water lilies. These are cheap imitations. Only "Restless Farewell" (Norman Blake & Peter Ostroushko) has anything to recommend it.

The remainder, despite the high profile and great work of some of the other performers, is pretty bleak. In particular, Lucy Kaplanskys' rendition of "It Aint Me Babe" will make your skin crawl. There is a lot of sappy sentimentalism here that bears no resemblance to the grit, irony, and sometimes venom in Dylan's delivery. If you are a Dylan fan, don't waste your money on this. If you have money to burn, give it to charity.

Good, Not Great
A must have for any fan of Dylan's, poetry, or just plain ole life. The artists have interpreted and presented individually, and that's what makes this CD good. The halting, "I Want You," alone is worth the price of admission to this uneven, earthy experience. I like the CD so well, I gave a musician/friend/artist my first copy before I purchased my second. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential recording

A pretty stunning group of socially conscious performers (from Bonnie Raitt to Billy Bragg) join in tribute to the inspirational music and life of Pete Seeger on this expansive 2 CD set. The grand selection of songs is well-annotated with notes from the artists and Seeger himself about each piece and its place in the pantheon. Among the many highlights are Bruce Springsteen's heartfelt "We Shall Overcome," John Trudell's tense "Torn Flag," actor Tim Robbins's rap-like "All My Children of the Sun," and Ani DiFranco's quiet, brooding "My Name Is Lisa Kalvelage." Further listening: the Smithsonian/Folkways release of If I Had a Hammer, a remarkable collection of Seeger singing his own songs. --Michael Ruby ... Read more

Reviews (9)

What an amazing tribute...
In agreeing with all the other top-star reviews in this list, I want to add that part of what makes Pete Seeger such a treasure is the timelessness of his writing. Reggae Pete? Why not! Like Shakespeare, adapting classics for modern tastes only emphasizes their universality. This tribute makes it clear that Pete's music belongs in the global culture, for all generations present and future to discover and make their own.

On a separate note, I want to direct America-centric readers to the work of Tommy Sands, a great friend of Pete's who sings the title song. North-of-Ireland Irish, Tommy follows in Pete's peace-activist footsteps, and deserves the international recognition he has received for his work... Slàinte!

Yum... whoa... WOW!
You'll hear your favorites on this album, and you'll hear songs new to you that will blow you away.

Besides being a collection of songs honoring Seeger, these are wonderful on their own. Re-release these as singles, and they will be hits in the folk-music circles, and could hold their own on some more popular stations (like Chicago's WXRT).

For me, I loved Studs Terkel reading "Blessed Be the Nation," Jackson Browne/Bonnie Raitt singing, "Kisses Sweeter than Wine," and the deeply haunting "My Father's Mansion" as sung by Billy Bragg and Eliza Carthy in a celtic flavor.

Hearing Donovan's version of "My Rainbow Race" was refreshing, and Dick Gaughan's dramatic rendering of "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy" knocked my socks off. Surprising me was Tim Robbins' "All My Children of the Sun." So he can sing, too? Amazing.

Listen to Greg Brown singing "Sailing Down My Golden River." He has a Johnny Cash thing going on when he sings it, don't you think? Check it out. Very cool.

There are others, some 39 songs in all, and each I honestly liked. No duds, no "why did they put that on the album" songs.

I fully recommend this album.

Anthony Trendl

EXCELLENT!!!!! I LOVE Pete Seeger!
I just heard this 2cd set and am blown away by it! I didn't realize he had written all those songs! I loved the reggae song, and all the others. I work at two libraries. One library had it, and I am going to buy this for my other library, and a copy for me, since it has all the notes from Pete and the artists who sing his songs. EVERYONE should hear this!

A Pete Seeger Feast To Carry On To The 21st Century
On first listen, the divergent arrangements and production of these Pete Seeger classics recorded by others startle. However, after a few listens I can't get enough. The folk melodies wrap around the new voices and interpretations like they should... beautiful and compelling music by the national treasure that is Pete Seeger.

a wonderful blend of heartfelt music, truly inspiring
a wonderful blend of heartfelt music, truly inspiring ... Read more

Reviews (5)

An Invaluable Collection of Heartfelt Songs
This 30-song collection of field recordings from 1934-1946 accurately reflect the role music played in the the everyday lives of rural America. When you listen to these songs, not only do you hear the joys and fears and sorrows of the performers' lives, you often hear in the background children laughing, dogs barking, clocks ticking, trucks driving by. These are not professional musicians, but real people who deliver their songs with an intensity and honesty you can't find in the recording studio.

Each performer has his own unique story. Turner Junior was a blind street musician who accompanies himself on harmonica on the spiritual "When I Lay My Burden Down." He philosphically tells Alan Lomax that when you leave this earthly life "you'll see with a spiritual eye." A young Ora Dell Graham was attending the Drew Colored High School (which also schooled elementary students) where she recites a couple of playground rhymes. The liner notes tell us she would not live to see her twenty-first year. She was killed during a holdup.

This collection also covers a wide range of the American musical experience. "Rock Island Line" is performed by a group of convicts at the Arkansas Cummins State Farm. The traditional folk song "Soldier's Joy" is performed (in Lomax's words) by "two blind men and three day laborers." "Creek Lullaby" is sung a capella by a young Native American girl identified only as Margaret, whose haunting vocal is made all the more memorable by singing the song in Creek. Fiddler Jess Morris was a working cowboy in Texas when he recorded "Goodbye, Old Paint."

Each song on this collection has a fascinating story behind it, and the accompanying 40-page booklet tells them all in loving and meticulous detail. The importance of the exhaustive work of John and Alan Lomax can not be overstated. These historical recordings would be lost to time if not for their efforts. It is impossible to listen to these recordings without being moved. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Comfort food for the ears...
Haunting ballads, stories and lively dance tunes sung by "regular people" (including Woody Guthrie) provide a musical history of rare breadth. If you are looking for slickness and glitz, this CD is not for you. If, on the other hand, you enjoy honest music, are interested in folk history, and perhaps are a closet (or shower) singer yourself, you will enjoy this glimpse into the souls of people whose spirits fill these songs.

An added bonus is the booklet that is included. It provides background on the Library of Congress's Folk Archive and the field recordings done by John, Alan, and Elizabeth Lomax in the late 30's to mid-40's. It also gives a short song and artist history for each track. The fact that one child singer died before her 21st birthday makes her song especially haunting.

Many of us live comfortably insulated, yuppified, sanitized lives. These recordings remind us where we came from. Most importantly, they demonstrate the power of music, that it feeds our souls and gives us strength. We all have that power to make music. Some of us have just forgotten how to do it, or have been told we should not try to sing or play. These songs help us remember on many levels, and show us that making music is a blessing we are all capable of enjoying.

Sea Lion Woman Youve gotta buy it!
This particular song made me want to purchase this CD its a wonderful song even my kids love singing it. If your a FOLK MUSIC fan you'll love the CD its great!

TRUST ME

A Treasury of Library of Congress Field Recordings
I purchased this CD so I could listen to Sea Lion Woman, a song I heard during the final credits to The General's Daughter. The other 29 songs were an added bonus. Some of these songs, recorded in the 30's and 40's, are a real joy to listen to. Also included with the CD is a small booklet telling you about each song. To hear "Pullin' the Skif" and "Shortenin' Bread", only to learn that the young singer died in a hold-up she perpetrated before her twenty-first birthday just grabs the heart.

America singing
Ever since 1928, the Library of Congress has been recording authentic folk musicians in the field. Eventually, a small number of these recordings were released commercially, first on 78s, then LPs and now CDs (on Rounder's Archive of Folk Culture series). On this disc, banjoist, playwright, and ethnomusicologist Stephen Wade has chosen 30 of the best of the publicly available performances, representing a broad range of styles. All are from the 1930s and '40s, before America's rich folk-song tradition began to collapse under the onslaught of radio and pop music on phonograph records. Every cut here is a small masterpiece, and every one stands up to repeated listening. Among my own favorites is cowboy fiddler Jess Morris's "Goodbye, Old Paint," the earliest known version of this famous frontier waltz; Morris learned it in 1884 from a black Texas cowhand, who in turn picked it up while driving cattle to Wyoming in the 1870s. Pennsylvanian John J. Quinn does a blood-chilling, unaccompanied "Avondale Mine Disaster," and Mississippi bluesman David "Honeyboy" Edwards makes "Worried Life Blues" sound practically like an orchestral piece, though accompanied by no more than his acoustic guitar. Banjo pickers, fiddlers, harmonica blowers, washboard bands, a capella balladeers, church and prison choirs, children's chants and mother's lullabies -- you can hear America singing on this wonderful disc. ... Read more

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Have Moicy! was recorded over the course of three days back in 1975 by the musical equivalent of the Yippies. Leading the way was Holy Model Rounders founder Peter Stampfel, aided and abetted by fellow travelers Michael Hurley and Jeff Fredrick. The lot of them patched together a never-too-cute assortment of country-folk novelty numbers that are playful, irreverent, randy, and ribald ("We fill up our guts and then we turn it into shit and then get rid of it"). Just the sort of stuff folk music had misplaced and desperately needed in order to remain relevant. Singer/songwriters may have become bogged down in self-reflection, but not these loons. Here was Hurley contemplating baked potatoes and pork chops ("The Slurf Song," "Sweet Lucy"). Frederick, meanwhile, fretted his way through "What Made My Hamburger Disappear" and Stampfel wailed with out-of-tune gusto on "Griselda" (indie rockers Yo La Tengo salvaged the latter on its beguiling collection of covers, Fakebook). It's nearly impossible not to like Have Moicy!, and it's damn easy to love it. --Steven Stolder ... Read more

Reviews (12)

a folkie aphotheosis
High times, lost times, shit, spaghetti, death, and perch from Lake Champlain...it's all here in an album that is both a celebration and refutiation of the American folk movement of the 60s...(did I mention that it's also one of the FUNNIEST records ever made?)...Buy immediately!

No collection is complete without 'Have Moicy'
I love this record. There aren't many albums that stick with you like this one. Putting this album on the box is like having your favorite hippy uncle drop by with a bottle of wine and a load of hilarious stories to tell. It's steeped in a rich tradition of American folk strangeness, the seeds of which can be found in the Harry Smith Folkways collection. These are the psychedelic children of the Grand Ol' Opry in an inspired set of eccentric barn dance songs for the cosmically enhanced rock 'n roll farmboy. "Sweet Lucy" will never let you go...You won't regret buying this one, it's a keeper.

A perfect album...
Take the time to read all of the previous reviews of HAVE MOICY....all are accurate and *still* won't prepare you for the wonderful listening experience that awaits you should you purchase this strange, exhilirating album.

Imagine the O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU soundtrack on psychedelics and you're on your own from there.

Yippee!!

An Absurdly Neglected American Musical Classic
I first learned of this album by reading through Robert Christgau's collection of seventies record reviews for VILLAGE VOICE. He not only praised this album to the heavens, but named it his number one record of 1975.

Over the years, I have recommended this album to one person after another, and it has been heartbreaking to learn how very, very few people know of its existence. Occasionally you will hear one of the songs that first appeared on this album performed by other artists. I recently went to a Yo La Tenga/Eleventh Dream Day double bill, and Yo La Tenga performed "Griselda." The widespread neglect of this album is utterly unmerited by the quality of the music. These songs are witty, funny, silly, absurd, beautiful, and whimsical.

None of the tracks on the album are weak, and several stand out. "Midnight in Paris" is one of the funniest songs I know, with some really, really strange lyrics ("Life in a garret/Is fun if you share it" or "I'll use your bidet/And you'll wear my beret"). "Griselda" and "Sweet Lucy" are marvelously sweet tunes. "What Made My Hamburger Disappear" is . . . well, weird.

This is a flat out special album. I heartily recommend anyone who loves great folk music to give this one a shot. It won't be quite like anything else you have ever heard.

classic bluegrass
I've owned this CD since it came out. I think these guys are hilarious. They don't take themselves too seriously. It's a great singalong CD after you've learned all the words. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Kate Wolf's songs still ring true years after her death. This lovingtribute contains 14 heartfelt covers culled from the repertoire of thesinger-songwriter, who died of leukemia in 1986. From Kathy Mattea's sereneopener, "Give Yourself to Love," to Terry Garthwaite's near-tears closer,"Thinking About You," it's apparent that all involved in the project (from thecontributing artists to producer Nina Gerber, who collaborated with Wolf throughmuch of her career) hold Wolf in the highest esteem. Highlights here includeDave Alvin's gruff "These Times We're Living In," Nanci Griffith's mournful"Friend of Mine," and Rosalie Sorrels's sweet-as-an-angel version of "In China ora Woman's Heart." --Alexandra Russell ... Read more

Reviews (14)

First-rate tribute
Nina Gerber has assembled an all-star cast to pay tribute to one of folk music's icons, Kate Wolf. With understated elegance, this cast captures the beauty and magic of Wolf's songwriting. Two of the many highlights are Lucinda Williams on "Here in California" and Emmylou Harris on "Love Still Remains."

Great!
This album is a moving, loving tribute to one of folk music's most influential artists. Nina Gerber's efforts, both in producing the piece and in her outstanding guitar work on many tracks, reflect her love and for her friend and mentor, Kate Wolf, and the artists do great justice to each piece. This CD is one that should be in everyone's collection. Outstanding work, Nina!

Kate Wolf Music, Kate Wolf People
Look at all the musicians here and who they are and what they mean. Go on any page for any Kate Wolf recording and see how many people feel moved to write about Kate and what she meant to them. You are smart if you read all those comments, smarter if you get as much Kate Wolf and her friends as you can, and are lucky, blessed to have found Kate even though she is no longer with us on Earth, she is here with her music, with the spirit that she has inspired.

Kate's "Red Tailed Hawk" will always be inscribed on my brain its beauty its realness, its aptness, and the reality of the golden rolling hills of California. So perfect and beautiful even though I never had a tape or LP or a CD of it until 12 years after it came out, until after we lost Kate. Still its power comes to me as it did on an old radio sitting in an Oakland apartment, the signal fighting its way all the way up from KFAT ("because we need the bucks) down in Gilroy.

The vision of California that Kate weaves on all her records is preciseless, unique real, and a treasure even if much of it is sweeten myth.

I feel so bad that I lived in San Fransisco and Oakland and travelled up and down California and the West Coast in the late 1970s and early 1980s when Kate was doing her best work and only saw her sing once. There was something to her voice that gets through to me, something pure. Part of Kate's magic is the superb arrangements and backup that got from the musical genius Nina Gerber her main accompaniest. Nina is now out there solo alot. If you like guitar and this kind music check out Nina too.
Oh Kate, why didn't we realize how much of a golden treasure you were when you were among us. In her memory think of a performer you might miss like we all miss Kate--well that isnt fair because thats a big ideal to measure up to--how about someone you would miss half or a quarter as much as I miss Kate, and make sure you go see them while you can, and maybe bring a friend, bring two. How about going to see everyone on this record who is touring and ask them to do a Kate Wolf song, or better, ask them to do whatever song Kate liked them to play for her.

sweet love...
This CD will bring you to tears...all the artists that paid tribute to Kate Wolf did so with all their hearts...every song is done with tender loving care and honor the memory of this beautiful song writer...

Radiant proof that Kate Wolf was a first rate lyricist
I love these songs more than those that I've heard Kate Wolf herself sing. Lucinda William's contribution is perfect. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Music at its best!
Great instrumental project! Most of the Dobro "Celebrities" are on this album, the great old players like Josh Graves and Mike Auldridge as well as the young players like Gene Wooten and Sally Van Meter. They all have one thing in common - extraordinary musicianship. The danger with instrumentaö projects featuring the same instrument is always that it gets boring after awhile, but not here. There are so many different ways to play, also the song selection, from traditional fast-paced bluegrass to modern sounds, everything is here and the Dobro really fits for the complete musical spectrum. I really enjoyed this album!

Great music for guitar lovers to discover!
An amazing album for those who love guitar music and like all types of music. The artists collected for the album provided a wide range of music for our enjoyment. The dobro can be hauntingly sad or chime its notes in a joyful expression of the player's mood. I had not heard the dobro played except for bluegrass music until I bought this album a couple of years ago. The musicians who have been around a long time have a particular style of playing and the younger players have made this instrument their own with just as important a style, showing the versatility of the dobro beyond bluegrass. Who would have thought "Day Tripper", a Beatles tune, could sound so cool with a dobro? All of these pieces are instrumentally divine! Well worth the money for those who choose their music collection carefully for 'keepers'. ... Read more

Amazon.com

This is more than just another excellently researched, heavily-annotated, and well-recorded Smithsonian Folkways disc of archival old-time sound. Like recordings of fife and drum music, this collection documents a rich African American musical tradition that was all but lost by the 1970s. The textbooks tell us that the banjo was brought to America by enslaved Africans, but the majority of musicians who've recorded with that instrument are white.While many of these modal, story-based folk songs will be familiar--"Coo Coo," "John Henry," "Shortnin' Bread"--there's an edge to these versions that's firmly rooted in the blues. Black Banjo Songsters is an essential compilation of claw-hammer-style banjo playing and deep, Appalachian singing. It happens to redress a historical wrong, but it's also a grand recording of deep, raw folk. --Mike McGonigal ... Read more

Reviews (5)

African American influence on American music
I'm African American and learning how to play the banjo. I tried this CD out from the library and I was very impressed with the old time style banjo music from blacks. And I didn't know that Etta James played the banjo. The song Jaybird played by Ms. Jamess was so beautiful.

It's unfortunate that we don't see many African American playing banjos today and how they contributed the banjo to American culture.

A real "Before The Blues" CD
Only two of the tunes on this CD, "Going Where..." and "Going Away...," are closely related to blues music, in both cases very early blues music. The other thirty tracks are honest-to-goodness 19th-century-style, pre-blues, non-blues folk music -- a whole earlier animal than blues music, which didn't arise until about 1900. For instance, "John Hardy" is about a real West Virginian who was hanged in 1894 (coincidentally the year Dink Roberts was born); "John Hardy" isn't a blues song, and no one has ever found evidence of _any_ blues song existing as early as 1894.

For 19th-century-style banjo, by musicians who were immersed in it during the 1900s to 1930s when they were young and it was still very well-known in some rural areas, you can't do better than this remarkable CD. Many of these banjoists learned their tunes first-hand from banjoists who were born around the 1870s.

If this is your cup of tea, some other wonderful banjoists who recorded similar pre-blues, non-blues folk music, all born in the late 19th century, would be Belton Reese, Jake Staggers, Nathan Frazier, Sidney Stripling, Bill Cornett, Will Slayden, and H.N. Dickens.

Part of the puzzle
Historically and musically speaking, this is an excellent disc. Aside from doing its part to help fill in this gap in America's musical picture, it also delivers some stellar performances.

This disc gives us not only a glimpse into the nearly forgotten world of African American banjo playing, but also snapshots of varying personal and regional styles.

Of the artists captured on this disc, Dink Roberts, his son James, John Snipes' instrumental pieces, and Rufus Kasey would get my votes for the top musicians on the disc, with Dink being the pinnacle. With as many banjo styles, playing styles, and personal styles as there are in the world, there are times during this disc when I feel like Dink has one of the ultimate, definitive tones and styles. His CooCoo is almost unrecognizeable from the tune you most likely know from Clarence Ashley, Hobart Smith, etc... yet it is every bit as interesting.

This is an essential disc for anyone even partially interested in banjo music and history, but purchasing it alone won't quite give you the full picture. To really maximize this disc, I recommend that you buy it in tandem with the excellent book, African Banjo Echoes In Appalachia (which is also available at this website). They are companion pieces written and recorded by the same woman and should be considered inseparable.

From the various CooCoo's to the 2 excellent but differing versions of Shortnin' Bread, John Hardy to Georgie Buck, there are many stand-out performances in this collection.

You are going to want this!
Wonderful CD--some bizarre song content that makes you glad that is in an unedited collection of songs. Free form thoughts just pouring out--you really feel like you are there sitting next to these people. This is authentic old music--not for people who sort-of like old stuff. I recommend this CD, it is one that I've passed around to 5 or 6 friends. Stuff most people haven't heard unless they listen to esoteric public radio broadcasts in the back woods at 6 AM.

A treasure for old-time music lovers, anthropologists & you
Archival, yes, but the music contained on this CD is more vital than you can imagine. It must be heard to be believed. Listening to the likes of John Snipes and Dink Roberts changed my life. This is banjo music to calm the weary soul...and give it just the bit of thrill we all deserve. Plus, buying CDs on the Smithsonian/Folkways label is a way to help them continue their valuable work. ... Read more

Amazon.com

That Daddy-O Daddy! is an exceptional record worthy of listeners who span the generational spectrum ought to come as no ground-shaker. Forget, for a moment, that this is a Woody Guthrie tribute--a designation signaling that whatever's to come, it'll be electric-blanket cozy--and focus instead on the talent that producer Frankie Fuchs pulled together here. There's the glorious rough stuff of Taj Mahal; Billy Bragg & the Blokes' robust riptide; Cissy Houston's graceful vocal sway; and the back-porch warble of Ramblin' Jack Elliott, among others. It's a meandering but easy-to-follow recipe of master interpreters, in other words, and one that's not afraid to intermingle ingredients. Add to that the tingly thrill of being on the receiving end of raw material mined from folk music's dear, departed pop (six unreleased, unrecorded, and in some cases unfinished tracks poke up), and you can't help feeling a little awed. Cue this up for kids as young as 2, as the whirly-twirl of tracks like "Tippy-Tap Toe" and "Little Sack o' Sugar" will set them to swooping, swaying, and singing the way Woody would've wanted. Houston's "Sleep Eye" and Bragg's "Dry Bed" soar--one's as warm as the other is high-spirited. These 16 tracks, though, are to be savored for the simple joy with which their creator so deftly dashed them off. "Howdy Little Newlycome," Guthrie's own recitation of a wonderment-filled ditty he recorded in his kitchen in 1951, caps off a perfectly executed disc that pours its heart out in the name of a plainspoken genius. --Tammy La Gorce ... Read more

Reviews (7)

just wonderful
It really is as good as the other reviewers say. I got this for the Jimmie Dale Gilmore tune, but I burst out crying with the Syd Straw number. There's a range of styles and emotions, but all of them top-notch.

A must have!
A wonderful CD to introduce to children of all ages!!

A treasure for the whole family!
I bought this CD for myself, having heard one of the songs on the radio. I now plan on sending one to each of my three grandchildren. These songs are not only fun, they speak to children and adults alike. It is quite apparent that Woody Guthrie wrote these songs with lots of love, and an understanding of his children's feelings and fears. Taj Mahal and the other artists that perform the songs do a great job. I definitely recommend this one!

A "must" for all Guthrie fans
Daddy-O Daddy! is an impressive and entertaining collection of fifteen recordings for young listeners composed by the folk music legend Woody Guthrie and performed by a series of outstanding artists. A "must" for all Guthrie fans, as well as highly recommended for children and their families the selection range from Wood Guthrie's performance of Howdy Little Newlycome (2:38), to Kim Wilson's performance of New Baby Train (6:03); to Cissy Houston's Sleep Eye (5:40).

an amazing collection of songs
Whether you've got a "little newlycome" at home or not, say howdy to this collection of artists performing rare Woody Guthrie songs. My favorites:
"Want to See Me Grow?" -- Joe Ely and Jimmie Dale Gilmore
"My Daddy (Flies a Ship in the Sky)" -- Syd Straw -- this song should be the national anthem for airplane travel!
"Dry Bed" -- Billy Bragg. Too much! A trippy song about potty training.

Get this for all the kids you know. ... Read more

Album Description

This wonderful resource includes folk melodies, contemporary classics and synagogue standards sung by cantors and soloists. Shaarei Shabbat: Songs & Blessings for Your Jewish Home is the perfect starting place for those to whom Shabbat (Sabbath) is new or a place to return. Along with Haneirot Halalu: A Home Celebration of Chanukah, Shaarei Shabbat will help make your Jewish home a joyous one. Popular with clergy and individuals as gifts, to learn Shabbat melodies or make home Sabbath observance just a little warmer with song. Produced by Doug Cotler. ... Read more

Amazon.com's Best of 2001

A fantastic collection of old-time music, "Folks, He Sure DoPull Some Bow!" captures vintage fiddle music at that rarecrossroads where the blues, jazz, and something that would one day becalled folk were all in their infancy. For fiddle virtuosos performingbetween 1927 and 1935, quite simply, anything goes. Banjo IkeyRobinson's red hot "My Four Reasons" swings with humor and pizzazz,the State Street Boys' "Rustlin' Man" features the down-and-out bluesvocals and fiddling of Big Bill Broonzy , and the Mississippi Sheiks'jazzy, but blues-inspired "Lazy Lazy River" musically straddles bothsides of the Mason Dixon Line. For many listeners, the more esoterictracks will stick out: Bo Chatman (a.k.a. double-entendre blues king Bo Carter) is heardfiddling behind Alec Johnson's goofy vocals on "Sister Maud Mule" (andin the spotlight on his own "Good Old Turnip Greens"); the GeorgiaYellow Hammers' "G Rag" is the product of a then-rare integratedrecording session; and Abrew's Portuguese Instrumental Trio performs"Cabo Verdranos Peca Nove" with incredible fiddling on what must be oneof the first attempts at a crossover world-music disc. It's allhere--great remastering, in-depth liner notes, and wonderful playing. Eachrelease from Old Hat--Violin, Sing the Blues forMe and Music from the Lost Provinces--feels definitive, and this gem iscertainly no different. --Jason Verlinde ... Read more

Reviews (5)

If you want to hear "fiddle" music don't buy this!
This is a review for normal people. If you are a fan of standard fiddle do not buy this CD. It is a bunch of badly recorded, half hearted, boring and sloppy songs thrown together on an overpriced CD. Save yourself $... or if you like this type of music just go buy some old Little Rascals episodes on DVD. Then you will get the same music you hear on this plus the bonus of the Little Rascals. Now I know why we think of Blues guitar players not fiddle players when this music is discussed. The other reviewers seem to think some of the names on this CD will be familiar to you. Don't believe them, unless names like "Abrew's Portuguese Instrumental Trio" or "Dixieland Jug Blowers" are familiar to you. I am just hoping to prevent normal music lovers from stepping into this pile and losing $... like I did. I play banjo, fiddle, mandolin, dulcimer and guitar all badly, but I could get a gig with these bands and probably improve their sound. If you are the artsy type that digs this kind of stuff and you can't wait to grow a goatee, turn the lights down low, fill the room with smoke (oops, bad for your health), put your sunglasses on and crank this baby up; I hope you don't mind being stuck by yourself all the time because no one else is going to put up with this lousy music. Go find something with Chubby Wise in it if you want to hear some real fiddle playing. Help support some little known, up and coming fiddle players that need to buy food and pay rent with royalty checks by buying their music instead of making these labels, that get this junky music for free or almost free, super rich.

Worth the check
The music on this cd is fun, its interesting, and its instructive. More than that, it is vital music for anyone who wants to understand the musical culture of this country in general, and the history of fiddling, the blues, jazz, and much much more. Black fiddling along with Black banjo playing were vital forces in black music across the scale from classical to delta blues. Now people are surpised there is sucha thing as black fiddling, or blues fiddling. Listen to this music. More than that, the music here is good to listen to. If you think you know the blues, you will recognize familiar names of Lonnie Johnson and Big Bill Broonzy. You get to hear both of them hear playing their first instrument, the fiddle!
But all this music is a lot of fun

In response to some comment, I have played bluegrass and old timey music for about 40 years, and also play guitar, banjo, mandolin, and fiddle, the first two well enough to play with recording artists since around 1967.

This is not white country music. It is black country music and some black proto Jazz. Professional bluegrass fiddlers and professional violinists I know who I have introduced to this record think it is amazing, interesting, and educational. It is just nice to listen to as well.

Anyone familiar with African American blues music, jug band music, or 1920s and 1930s two-beat Jazz will find familiar figures on this record. If you don't know who Lonnie Johnson and Big Bill Broonzy are, you are seriously uneducated about American music, not just African american music.

BTW Fiddling encompasses all non-classical styles of playing the violin, not just white "country" and bluegrass styles.

Wow, did this one sneak up on me!
After the first song or two, I was almost ready to shut this off... almost, that is. The way it started out, it had about as much sound quality as a scratchy old background soundtrack to a Little Rascals movie.

But by the third song, I was hooked. Wow, this stuff is amazing. This is blues at its heart, pure and unadorned, and gushing forth with an energy that its high-fidelity counterparts can't hope to match.

And what a treasure trove of unknown gems! I find myself listening to this album over and over -- whether in the background or at the center of my attention, it mysteriously seems to work both ways.

Get this album!

Fabulous set of African-American fiddle music
Another astonishing album from the truly great, tiny independent Old Hat label... This features rare old recordings of fiddle music, some old-timey and some straight blues, made during the height of the Great Depression. There are a few familiar names, such as Peetie Wheatstraw and Peg Leg Howell, but for the most part this is pretty ultra-obscure material (even including one track of music by immigrants from Cape Verde (!) This is high-quality stuff, and comes with generously informative liner note... Highly recommended!

Oh, scrape them strings!
Compliments to Marshall Wyatt and his fledgling label. He's batting 1000 so far. This CD and the other two releases on Old Hat are wonderful pieces of American musical history. This one gives a wonderfully broad listen to the many voices of the nation's fiddling. It'll wake you up and set your synapses to dancing! ... Read more

Album Description

"Incountry" contains folk songs of Americans in the Vietnam War. The 27 songs are composed and performed by Air Force veterans Dick Jonas, Toby Hughes, Chip Dockery, and Bull Durham; Army veterans are Bill Ellis, Saul Broudy, and Chuck Rosenberg. The songs reflect the combat experiences of fighter pilots, gunship and electronic warfare flyers, and the ground troops who fought in Vietnam. The Incountry group was assembled through the good offices of Dr Lydia Fish of the Vietnam Veterans Oral History and Folklore Project at Buffalo State College, New York. The group appeared with Kris Kristofferson on Austin City Limits, Veterans' Day, 1992. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Outstanding! A real piece of our history.
More than collection of folk songs, these are the songs that were writen by U.S. service men fighting in Vietnam. Ground troops and pilots wrote these songs to the tunes of popular songs. They are performed on the cd by Vietnam veterans. Extremely well done. The songs tell the stories of specific battles, air combat, and the hardships of fighting the war in South East Asia. Dr. Lydia Fish, Director of Anthropology at Buffalo State College, N.Y., collected these treasures and recorded them in 24 track stereo. The cd is part of the "Vietnam Veterans Oral History and Folklore Project." You won't find any Jane Fonda stuff here! No matter how you felt about the war, this cd is a must for anyone with an intrest in history, folk music, and of course the Vietnam War.

Echos from the Past
In Country gives a side of the Vietnam War that few Americans who weren't there can imagine or appreciate... until you hear the music. Americans who served in Vietnam -- and in the skies over Vietnam and Laos -- had their music, and In Country captures the best of it. For those of us who were there, listening to the cuts that address the parts of the war we experienced is like stepping into a time machine. This isn't the Hollywood version; it's the real thing, with understated courage, humor and forebearance to balance the death, destruction and misery. In fact, come to think of it, that was why a lot of the songs were written. They range from tear-jerkers, to serious, to cynical, to hilarious. Listening to them you can sense the change in attitudes toward the war as it ground on. I can remember hearing some of them for real in Air Force officers club bars in Thailand in '65-66 and in '75, and Flying Fish -- and Lydia Fish, the lady who put the whole collection together -- got it right! I teach an undergraduate college course on the Vietnam War nowadays, and the CD is worth its weight in gold. Highly recommended!

J. Guilmartin

Wow! Great Songs!
I listen to some folk and listen to about any genre of music. I picked this up to see what it was about after seeing it was written by soldiers in during the vietnam war and was amazed by the disc. It spreads across from humor to services rivalry to more deep reflections. I also like the reworking of some of songs such as King of the Trial and I've Been Everywhere.

Personally I think it's a must have for history and Vietnam War buffs as well as those who appreciate folk music.

excellent cd
outstanding cd.recommend to any vietnam vet to bring back the good times or the bad depending on your outlook at the war.

Great Classroom Aid
I was fortunate to take Dr. Fish's anthropology course were the tape was required for the class. I never thought I would use it again until I began teaching and searching for music from the Vietnam War. I used the tape to illustrate the hardships as well as the companionship the men found in Vietnam. I then complimented the lesson with Anti war protest songs to leave the students with a well rounded outlook at both sides of the Vietnam Era. I strongly recommend this tape/CD. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The sound may not be up to contemporary standards on this disc, but historically it is perhaps the most important recording ever released of Sacred Harp singing. Part of the Library of Congress's Archive of Folk Culture series, this was the first recording to be created "in the raw," from an entire singing convention, replete with the heart-rending testimonials and the sound of singers getting into pitch. Folklorist Alan Lomax with George Pullen Jackson (at the time the foremost authority on Sacred Harp singing) recorded this fascinating document. Jackson authored several works and did extensive research on the often secular roots of Sacred Harp songs and delved into the lives of important original composers such as Billings, Read, and Ingalls. Since its release, Sacred Harp Singing has become a Rosetta stone of sorts for contemporary singers, who can compare their sound against that of the first authentic recording of a convention, the Alabama Sacred Harp Singing Convention of August 1942. --Mike McGonigal ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Hear God's People in Simple, Perfect Praise
I must respont to the "muddy" review. This is not music to be critically listened to as an art form. There is no intention to make art here; this is the sound of the human voice singing words of praise. It's corporate and made for God's ears, not our's which get caught on "hooks" and complicated arrangements. John Wesley said that no voice should stand out - Even I with a highly trained voice just sing along on worship. It's a refreshing diversion from contemporary CHristian praise music which features the voices of Barbie and Ken. THIS IS REAL AND ABSOLUTELY RAW. One is correct if they find it hard to sit back and listen too (unless one has an interest in musicilogy as did the recorder of these songs) BUT IF YOU WANT TO WORSHIP IN A PURE AND NEW (though it's old), I SUGGEST YOU ACQUIRE A HYNAL so you can forgrt about the self and sing along. This recrding was created as an historical document, but it brings me so much more. The COLD MOUNTAIN soundtrack has two of these shape note pieces on it IDUMEA was extremely effective and haunting during the huge battle scene in the movie.

Sacred Harp Singing
I found this to sound authentic but "muddy". The words are hard to distinguish at times. This is how we used to sound with untrained voices and not everybody being on exact time.

Fascinating and powerful
Someone once described sacred harp singing as singer's music rather than listener's music, which is as accurate a label as I can think of. This is like nothing you've ever heard before and it will stay with you for a long, long time. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Outstanding Beyond Desciption
This is an excellent collection of some really great celtic music that makes a fantastic introduction to some very talented Scottish musicians. Buy this CD..this is the best record in my collection of 200+ CDs!

Outstandingly cool example of cool Scottish music
This fussion of scottish tunes and modern genres shows the the amazing potential of this potential style.

THE BEST CD I HAVE EVER OWNED IN 10 YEARS....
mUSIC IS VARIED BUT JIM SOUTHERLAND AND PAUL MOUNCEY ARE THEE BEST......SEXY, LOVING, I CANNOT GET ENOUGH OF THESE GUYS..GREAT...VALUE..GREAT MUSIC. GOES INTO YOUR SOUL.....

A superior sampler of exciting new Scottish folk music
I normally dread samplers, thinking that I will find perhaps one or two great performers stuck among tracks that I wouldn't want to hear twice; this is a happy exception.

This collection contains 17 tracks representing different performers of new Scottish music. The style is a combination of traditional folk melody with some jazz and rock augmentation. For the most part, the instruments are traditional guitar, pipes and drum (no bagpipes) with a little slide guitar, electric augmentation and synthesizer thrown in very unobtrusively. Roughly 3/4 of the album has vocal tracks, about three of which are already stuck in my head after a few listens.

My knowledge of Scottish music before this was limited to anonymous bagpiping and folk players and Mouth Music, a group which tends toward a more extreme synthesizer rock/hip-hop fusion with traditional Scottish singing; this album falls solidly in the middle with some modern jazz and rock influences thrown in. The recording has wonderful atmosphere and is worth hearing on headphones. END ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Brilliant album of evocative acoustic journeys
Recommended by a friend, this album has quickly become a treasure in my collection. It is a brilliant soundtrack for road trips when the early morning sun is rising above the dashboard and you're seeking wonderful music to carry you through the acoustic pastures and sensitive landscapes of your life. Rich in dynamics and sonic diversity, all 14 songs on this album are masterful in musicianship and artistic effect on the listener. Obviously, I believe you'd do right to invest in this album, put it on auto-repeat and let it carry you through your days for the next few months till you wear the recording out.

If you want Folk, Appalachian,Celtic; this is it!
I like all types of music and folk is a fairly new interest of mine. On a trip to Ireland this summer I got very interested in Celtic music and traditional Irish Folk music. I bought a fist full of CDs in Ireland. None compare to this albumn. This is terrific. The moods cover the whole spectrum. Each piece has its own mood and they go from sad and meloncholy to toe-tapping excitement. The fiddles are fantastic. I can't say enough good about this albumn.

You can FEEL the mountains
I live in a big city in land so flat that the highest "hill" around is a freeway overpass. But everytime I listen to this album, I'm taken up on some lonesome knob or down in a "holler" for an all-night wedding dance, just as my Appalachian ancestors might have done. This is "country" music at its best: not the phony hokum of Nashville, but genuine, American music. The various artists performing on this album -- a genuine "Who's Who" of acoustic musicians -- have rendered these interpretations with great skill and love. Whether from from the aching "Midnight on the Water," the haunting "The Greenwood Tree," or the toe-tapping "Footprints in the Snow," in an arrangement that is reminiscent of early Bob Wills, there's not a bad cut here. Whether you have mountain roots or not, you'll almost smell the hickory smoke with this one. ... Read more